English Curricula for Homeschooling

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it already, but I might have the opportunity to teach English at a home-school co-op. I'm really excited about it. Here in Massachusetts, we have the MCAS test. It's one of those horrible standardized tests that everyone has to pass in order to graduate high school. I've been dreading having to teach English in a public school because I feel like I would be teaching "How to pass the MCAS 101" and not get to teach any actual literature. If I get to teach at the co-op, I feel like I'll have a much better chance of ACTUALLY teaching English, both grammar and literature. They had their meeting today and the director was supposed to tell them about my class so hopefully I'll hear back soon.

Obviously, the bambino is a little too young  for school yet, but I'm seriously thinking about homeschooling him. There are soooo many amazing curricula out there these days. I actually just found one at thegreatbooks.com that I think I'm actually going to do myself. If I had done this way back in high school, I would be so well read, college would've been easy.

For my class, I'll be combining a few different curricula. For grammar, I'm going to use Our Mother Tongue. It uses biblical stories and stories from literature to teach grammar. It also has a bunch of awesome little anecdotes about the growth of the English language. For literature, I'm going to use a mix of the 7th and 8th grade versions of Lightning Literature. It uses Stories & Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children. We'll also be reading four novels: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Helen Keller's The Story of My Life, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Hobbit. There will also be daily journaling with prompts that relate to the grammar and books. It's going to be pretty intense for a 5th grader, but I think they'll be able to handle it. Pin It